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UNiTED STATES PATENT OEEicE.

F. M. OSBORN, OF DOVER PLAINS, NEW YORK.

CARPET STRETCHER AN-D HAMMER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 55, 154. dated May 29,1866; antedated May 22, 1866.

To all lwhom fit may concern.-

Be it known that I, F. M. OSBORN, of Dover Plains, iii the county ofDutchess and State of New York, have invented a new and Im provedMachine for Stretching and Tacking Carpets 5 and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof,which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification.

This invention relates to an implement or machine for the laying down offloor-carpets; and it consists in a novel combination and arrangement ofa stretcher for stretching the carpet and a hammer for driving the nailsor tacks used into the carpet for holding the same, the stretcher andhammer being so arranged with regard to each other and operated by acommon lever-handle that when the c arpet has been stretched by thestretcher the hammer shall be brought down upon the same with sufficientforce to insert or drive the tack or nail through the carpet into thedoor under it.

Having thus generally stated the object of the present invention and themanner in which `it is secured, I will now proceed to describe the samein detail, reference being had to the accompanying plate of drawings, ofwhich- Figure lis a plan or top view of the inachine, and Fig. 2 alongitudinal vertical section taken in the plane of the line x x, Fig.l.

a a in the drawings represent the framework of the machine, whichconsists of two parallel horizontal side pieces, b b, secured togetherby cross ties or braces c c at each end; el d, two vertical framessecured to the upper surfaces of the side pieces, between which is hung,by its cross-barf, a horizontal lever-liaiidle, g, the innervend ofwhich abuis against the under side of one arm,h, of the cross-bar l,turning also in bearings of the said frames d d, the arni m upon theopposite side of said cross-bar lresting upon the inner end of thehandle-shaft a of the haminer-head o, which shaf't is hung by thecross-bar p in bearings of the frames d d. Over the hammershaft a passesan elastic band, n2, secured at each end to the side pieces, b b. risaplate or frame placed in and between the side pieces, b b, in groovesor ways s s of which it moves in a horizontal plane. To one end of thisplate r, by a hinge-joint, t, is attached one end of a connecting-rod,u, the other end of which is similarly hinged to the under side of thelever-handle g. To the opposite end of the plate 1 to that at which theconnecting-rod u is secured, as above described, is attached, by an arm,e, a' stretcher, w, made of a toothed or serrated plate, as plainly seenin the drawings, this stretcher extending outward from the frame-work ofthe machine in the same line therewith and under the hammer-shaft, andhaving its teeth bent downward so as to insert themselves in the surfaceupon which the machine may be placed.

The machine, constructed and arranged as above described, is, when used,placed upon the carpet which it is desired to put down, the carpet beingfirst properly laid or spread out, within a short ydistance from theinopboard of the linish about the room, when, first bearing down withone hand upon the framework of the machine sufficiently to give it afirm bearing, the lever-handle g is depressed with the other hand,which, acting through the connecting devices above explained, moves thestretcher forward toward the mop-board,v pulling the carpet with it andstretching it, while at the same time the hammer-head is raised untilthe arm m disengages from its shaft, and is then brought down with greatforce upon the fastening tack or nail used, properly placed therefor inthe carpet by means of the elastic band a2, driving the tack through thecarpet into the ioor under it, the leverhandle then being thrown back byits spring or elastic strap y, drawing the stretcher with it, and thehammer by the reaction of the coiled spring z, as is obvious withoutfurther eXplanation.

The machine is then moved along upon the carpet a short distance,according to the closeness witli which it is desired to have thefastening-tacks inserted in the carpet, when the same operation is againperformed, as above explained, and so on as lon g as may be requisite.

The stretcher and hammer `are arranged with regard to each other in sucha manner that in operation the hammer will not fall until the stretcherhas performed its work; and I nd it convenient and advantageous toinagnetize the hammering-face of the hammer, so that by applying thetack thereto it will be held by mer o, with the intermediate parts ordevices connecting them with aoommon lever-handle, g, substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

The above specification of' my invention signed by me this 3d day ofOctober, 1865.

F. M. OSBORN.

Witnesses: ALBERT W. BROWN, A. C. GALLAHUE.

